The typical computer system includes processor and memory. A variety of applications may execute on the computer system. The applications may be network applications, local applications, or a combination thereof. A network application is an application that is stored on another computer system from a network (e.g., office network, Internet, etc.). A local application is an application that is only stored and executed locally.
Each application has a logic component and a user interface. The logic component includes the instructions necessary to perform calculations and provide the functionality of the application. The user interface defines how a user interacts with the logic of the application.
For example, when accessing the Internet, an Internet browser application is often used. The user interacts with the user interface of the Internet browser. The user interface includes the buttons, menu of options, address bar, etc. When a user types an address in the address bar, the user interface communicates the address to the logic component. The logic component performs the necessary functions to retrieve the web page associated with the entered address and return the web page to the user interface. The user interface then displays the web page for the user.
Several types of user interfaces exist. One type of user interface is a graphical user interface. A graphical user interface includes graphical elements, such as windows, boxes, buttons, drop down menus, text using a variety of formatting, etc. By using a graphical user interface rather than other types of interfaces, a programmer is able to display information for the user in a more user conscience format.
The graphical user interface is often limited by a projected screen size of the computer system of the average user. Specifically, in order to maintain the ease of use for the application, the user interface is constrained in text size and in the manner in which graphical elements are displayed. Accordingly, many application use scroll bars and separate windows for related groups of graphical elements.
For example, in many applications, a user may select items from a long list of items. Each selected item may be associated with a separate page containing group of graphical objects for the selected item. The separate pages are typically each displayed in a separate window. When a user wants to access the separate page, the current window is typically replaced by the window with the separate page.
Separating pages and using scroll bars in the user interface may lead to navigational confusion. Navigational confusion occurs when a user follows one link after another and does not understand which page the user is on with respect to other pages or how to return to a previous page. In order to prevent navigational confusion in the application, links to a main window and wizards may be used.
The main window specifies how a user may access other items. For example, in an Internet retail application, a user may access a series of pages with items. On each page may be a link to a shopping cart window containing all items a user has selected. From the shopping cart window, the user may click on an item in the shopping cart in order to view a page with information associated with the item (e.g., description of item, cost, etc.). When the user clicks on an item, the window with the shopping cart is replaced or a new window is created to display the page with information associated with the item. In order to view a different page associated with another item, the user returns to the shopping cart and repeats the process.
Another method for preventing a user from getting lost in an application is by using a wizard. In a wizard, a user initially selects multiple items. The wizard determines when pages associated with the multiple items will be viewed by the user. Accordingly, rather than actively obtaining pages, a user is passively guided through the different pages in a defined manner.